Mat Matters

8/26/2012

Chishko picks Va. Tech

Solomon Chishko, a junior wrestler at Canon-McMillan, has given an oral commitment to Virginia Tech.

Chishko is a two-time state medal winner and has finished first and second at Powerade.

He had a 44-2 record last season and took third place in the state at 138 pounds. His only two losses of the season came to Steve Spearman of Erie McDowell, who beat Chishko in the state team tournament and in the semifinals of the individual tournament.

Chishko had a 25-15 major decision over Austin Rose to help the Big Macs win a 28-25 decision over Central Dauphin in the state team semifinals. It was one of the biggest victories in the history of Canon-McMillan wrestling.

Virginia Tech is coached by Kevin Dresser, and the Hokies compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prior to coaching Virginia Tech, Dresser was head coach Christiansburg Academy, which has been a frequent participant in the Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan.

8/11/2012

Scott wins bronze medal

Coleman Scott captured one of the two bronze medals awarded in the 60kg freestyle competition at the London Olympics with a dramatic victory over Kenichi Yumoto of Japan Saturday.
Scott became the first Olympic medal winner from Greene County and the first medalist from the Washington-Greene County area since Canonsburg's Bill Schmidt won the bronze medal in the javelin the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
Scott also won the 16th Olympics medal in Oklahoma State's wrestling history (11 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze).
Scott won three PIAA championships at Waynesburg High School, then went on to capture an NCAA title at Oklahoma State.
Scott rallied from a 1-0 deficit against Yumoto in the third bout of the best-of-3 format when he hit a double-leg takedown, then exposed Yumoto's back for the winning points. The moves came in the final 12 seconds of the bout.
Scott previously wrestled, and defeated, Yumoto in the World Cup Individual Championships in May.
In London, Scott won his first two bouts, then saw his hopes for a gold medal dashed when he was beaten by Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan. Asgarov won the European Olympic Qualifying Tournament for his Olympic berth.
In the wrestlebacks, Scott waited while Yumoto wrestled Germany's Tim Schleicher. Yumoto won 3-1.
In the first bout of the bronze medal round, the period ended scoreless. Under international rules, a draw is held and the winner gets the advantage of taking his opponent's leg. Yumoto won the draw and took Scott down for the win.
Scott rallied in the second bout with a takedown and exposure for a 2-0 lead. The call was challenged by Yumoto's coaching staff and it was denied, giving Scott another point on the way to a 3-0 win.
In the third, and deciding bout, Yumoto took a 1-0 lead with 36 seconds remaining with a takedown. Scott rallied again, this time hitting a double-leg takedown on a restart, then exposing Yumoto's back with five seconds to go.
When it ended Scott rolled backwards on the mat, slapped it with both hands then hugged United States coach John Smith.
Scott began the day Seungchui Lee of Korea. Lee was the 2010 Asian Bronze medalist and second in the Asian Olympic Qualifier.
Malkhaz Zarkua of Georgia was next and Scott would win in dramatic fashion, pinning the Georgian in the second bout after winning the first. It was the second win this year by Scott over Zarkua. Scott beat him in the World Cup Championships. Zarkua made it to the Olympic quarterfinals by defeating Vasyl Fedoryshyn of the Ukraine, a silver medalist in the World Championships.
Scott earned his spot on the U.S. Olympic team in a challenge match in June in Times Square. Despite winning his weight class at the U.S. Team Trials, Scott was forced to take on two challengers in the event, billed as "The Grapple In The Apple." He knocked off Reece Humphrey in the first of two matches, then secured his spot with a five-point throw of Shawn Bunch in the final bout.

Scott loses in semis, bronze still available

Waynesburg native Coleman Scott lost his semifinal match against Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbiajan in the 60kg freestyle competition at the London Olympics. He will wrestle for a bronze medal.
Scott gave up a takedown with 14 seconds remaining in the first bout after fighting off an ankle pick by Asgarov for 17 seconds earlier in the period.
In the second period, Scott got into the legs of Asgarov but the Azerbaijanian fought it off. Asgarov then took Scott down with an ankle pick with 1:09 remaining. Scott got into Asgarov's legs in the final moments but time ran out.

Herbert loses in semifinals, chasing bronze

North Allegheny graduate Jake Herbert wins 84k match against Cuba's Arencibia Martinez, taking two of three. But he fell to Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan and fell into the bronze medal round. Herbert needs three wins to get the medal.

Scott wins two in a row

Waynesburg native Coleman Scott has won his first two matches in the 60kg freestyle competition in the London Olympics.

Scott pinned Georgia's Malkhaz Zarkua in quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals bout. Scott took Zarkua down early in the first bout to seal that win. Scott was warned for a head tap by the referee before the two minutes expired. In the second bout, Scott turned Zarkua and pinned him with about a minute remaining.

Scott captured his first-round match, beating Korea's Lee Seungchul 2-0. Both bouts were scoreless and the female referee warned the wrestlers in each bout for stalling. Scott won the tiebreaker in each period, reversing Seungchui with a nice stepover in the second for the victory.
Scott will wrestle Malkhaz Zarkua of Georgia in the next round. Zarkua defeated Vasyl Fedoryshyn of the Ukraine in the first round.
Here is the link to the Olympic webpage for that weight class.

8/03/2012

Powell hired at Trinity

To get the Trinity High School wrestling program back to elite status, the school board hired a head coach at Thursday’s school board meeting who is familiar with the program: Mark Powell.

The 27-year-old Powell walked the same halls, studied in the same classes and competed in the same gymnasium as the current crop of Hillers. Not only is Powell a Trinity graduate, he competed on the 2002 team that won a WPIAL Class AAA Team Tournament title and finished second in the PIAA tournament.

"I have lofty goals," said Powell. "You have to set high goals to be successful. Ultimately, we want to win championships."

Powell replaces Mike Marino, who resigned in May. Marino did a good job rebuilding a program that had dramatically slipped since Powell left. Powell wants to continue that progress.